Justin Lin Breathes New Life Into Bruce Lee's Dream Project 'Warrior': See First-Look Photos

For all those who love getting a good dose of action in the films, here's some amazing news! Now, die-hard action and fighting film fans would obviously know who Bruce Lee was. The legendary actor was a celebrated star whose fighting skills in the film would leave the viewers absolutely stunned.

According to Entertainment Weekly, now the director Justin Lin is is going to bring back Bruce Lee's dream project to life in the series 'Warrior' and the first loof of the series looks promising.

The idea for 'The Warrior' was pitched by Bruce back in 1971, where he would star as a martial artist but the studio denied saying it was difficult to think of the show with an Asian lead.  

Here’s How Bruce Lee’s Writings Became a 10-Episode Cinemax Series Called ‘Warrior’ https://t.co/sdaLcpLkk0 pic.twitter.com/V1GqTttnjW

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The year right after Bruce pitched the Idea, Warner Bros. aired a show called 'Kung Fu'.  David Carradine starred in the series as a martial artist in the old west. The whole concept of the show was quite similar to Bruce's idea but the studio denied the similarity.

Now, director Lin remembers watching 'Kung Fu' at the age of 8. He talked about the show to EW saying that he was confused why Carradine was playing that role on the show. 

“I was confused,” he tells EW. “I didn’t know why he was speaking in broken English.” Later the director learned that the original idea of the film was Bruce's, he decided to bring back the series to the screen without the whitewashed cast.

Lin decided to make the series to honor the legendary actor. The director took Bruce's daughter Shannon's help, who had brought to him "eight pages of the original notes from Bruce,” he says. 

The new Cinemax series 'Warrior' releases on April 5 and stars Andrew Koji as a martial artist who moves from China to San Francisco in the 1800s on a mission. He has an encounter with 'Tong Wars' of Chinatown.

Lin and Shannon are the executive producers for the film. Lin talked about how difficult it was to find a suitable cast for the film. The director revealed that when the casting director read the requirement as Asian-American, they go to a particular group of actors who are already popular in the industry.

"It was important to us to find a casting director that would really be open to us going around the world [for the search]. It took a while…I think there weren’t any rocks left unturned, and I think that’s the right way [to do it],” He said.

The director was trying to stick to Bruce's idea as much as he could as he was making this to honor him but since the technology and things have evolved quite a lot, Lin made a few changes but stuck to the core characters of his story. 

“There were a lot of changes in pacing, in how we were going to explore certain issues,” Lin says. “[We were] trying to honor the essence of what he was doing, but at the same time, cinema and TV and storytelling have really evolved.”

The director has taken time off his busy schedule and other important projects that he has to get back to like the next installment of the 'Fast And The Furious'. 

According to Deadline, the series will have 10 episodes. Apart from Andrew Koji in the lead role, the cast of the show includes Olivia Cheng as Ah Toy, Chinatown’s most accomplished courtesan, and madame. 

Jason Tobin as Young Jun, the hard-partying son of a powerful tong boss; Dianne Doan as Mai Ling, a beautiful and ruthless Chinese woman "who, through sheer force of will, has achieved a position of power in one of the tongs. "

The series also stars Kieran Bew as Officer “Big Bill” O’Hara, a hard-drinking Irish cop charged with forming a Chinatown squad; and Dean Jagger as Dan Leary, the unofficial godfather of the Irish community of San Francisco and leader of the Workingmen’s party.

Joanna Vanderham as Penelope Blake, the aristocratic heir to a railroad fortune trapped in a loveless marriage to the mayor. Tom Weston-Jones as Richard Lee, a transplanted Southerner, and rookie co.  Banshee and Outcast‘s Hoon Lee as Wang Chao, a Wiley fixer and profiteer in Chinatown.

Joe Taslim as Li Yong, a tong Lieutenant and kung fu master; Langley Kirkwood as Walter Buckley, a Civil War veteran and Deputy Mayor with his own political aspirations;  Christian McKay as Mayor Samuel Blake, the Mayor of San Francisco and Perry Yung as Father Jun, the leader of the most powerful tong in Chinatown.

The series means a lot to the director.  “I’ve been fortunate to be able to try everything,” he says. “But I have to say Warrior has been my pride and joy.” Lin has also been working on making 'Space Jam 2' and has a deal with Apple to develop TV.